March 18, 2016 12:06 PM
SINGAPORE – A woman, who was the primary caregiver of her seven-year-old autistic son, pushed him out the kitchen window of their ninth-floor Tampines flat after she was seized by thoughts that he was the reason for her exhaustion and marital problems.
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MADRID (AFP) – A Palestinian boy who survived a firebombing by Jewish extremists that killed his parents and baby brother was greeted by Real Madrid’s stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, on Thursday.
Five-year-old Ahmed Dawabsheh has been recovering from his injuries over the past eight months.
Moved by images of the bandaged boy wearing a Real Madrid jersey, Palestinians campaigned for months on social media to persuade the team to meet Ahmed.
And his dream came true as he posed for photos and had a Real shirt christened with own name on the back signed by the club’s Galacticos, including three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo and Welsh star Bale.
“The Real Madrid team met him and took photos with him and gave him a shirt and ball signed by the whole team,” Madrid said in a statement.
“Clearly moved, the boy ran around the facilities before witnessing his idols train.”
After meeting the players at Real’s training ground, Ahmed was then given a tour of the club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
The attack in July drew renewed attention to Jewish extremism, sparked international condemnation and worsened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub said Real Madrid were “restoring hope for a child who lost his entire family”.
In December, Ronaldo also met a three-year-old Lebanese boy who had lost both parents in a suicide bombing in his home country.
His on-field rival, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, was similarly moved by the plight of another five-year-old.
Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi won the internet’s heart when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag as an improvised Messi jersey.
He travelled with his family to Kabul last month to receive two jerseys autographed by the Argentine star, which were presented to the young fan by Unicef.
Call it a “rubber plantation”, if you will.
In one corner of a small jungle in Woodlands, there are used condoms and condom wrappers strewn all over the ground.
The hundreds of condoms are a by-product of a jungle brothel that has been in and out of business for the past 14 years.
The New Paper first reported on the jungle brothel in May 2004.
Lianhe Wanbao recently revisited the site, which is situated between Woodlands Avenue 4 and 9, and found that the site’s clandestine activities were back and thriving.
As night fell, men could be seen walking into the jungle. Some went in alone, while others arrived in groups.
In the space of half an hour, 30 men were seen walking into the area, during the stakeout by the Chinese evening daily.
They are believed to be living in nearby dormitories.
An anonymous source said that the women are mostly foreign workers. They arrived in groups in taxis and walked directly into the jungle, while their customers appeared soon after.
The route to the brothel is a trail that runs innocuously off a pavement. It is lined with fallen tree trunks, but 50m in, there is an empty space about the size of three basketball courts.
The space is secluded and surrounded by trees. Wooden poles erected on the ground hold up canvas sheets, forming a makeshift room.
A torn mattress wrapped in canvas sheets sits in the middle.
Each session on the mattress is said to last between 10 and 20 minutes.
Wanbao reported that the brothel is open every day and enjoys good business.
The operators appeared well-organised – there were men acting as lookouts and “ushers” using torches to guide customers into the area.
Yesterday, The New Paper spoke to residents in the vicinity. Some said they were worried while others admitted they have become used to it.
A resident, who wanted to be known only as Madam Lina, 53, said: “When I am waiting for a taxi with my children, I see men and women walking in and out of the place.”
SAFETY
Madam Lina, who lives on the first storey of Block 878, Woodlands Avenue 9, added that she was worried about the safety of her son, 24, and two daughters, aged 19 and 27.
“Sometimes, my husband and I would put a table and chair outside our flat to sit and wait for our children to come home,” said Madam Lina, who is a vice-president of a childcare centre.
Another resident said that the women working at the brothel even attempted to solicit business from her husband, so he changed his route home to avoid them.
The 64-year-old housewife, who declined to be named, has been living in the vicinity for 16 years.
She said: “I’ve lived in this area for so long that I’m not scared of this. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
Since 2002, over 100 people were reported to have been arrested there.
TNP has reported at least six incidents of vice in the area between 2003 and 2012.
In 2003, TNP reported that the place was home to 66 suspected illegal immigrants, 39 of whom were women.
The place was found to have a common toilet and makeshift huts.
In 2004, 34 foreign nationals were arrested there for vice activities.
zacsoh@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on March 18, 2016.
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March 18, 2016 11:38 AM
SINGAPORE – Train and bus services run by SMRT will operate extended hours on Thursday (March 24), the eve of Good Friday.
March 18, 2016 11:22 AM
SINGAPORE – The National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Science faculty and the YGC Group Singapore have collaborated on a new drink made with eucheuma, a type of seaweed found commonly in South-east Asian seafloors.
MACAO – A movie about a highly-trained female assassin swept the Asian Film Awards in Macau on Thursday, bagging prizes for best film, best actress and best director at the glittering ceremony.
The movie took home more than half of the night’s prizes – eight out of 15 trophies – at one of Asia’s leading film awards held in the glamorous casino town in southern China.
Set in the Tang Dynasty era in China, The Assassin is a slow-burning minimalist movie with Taiwanese megastar Shu Qi playing a skilled female assassin sent back to her home province to kill its governor, who is also the man she loves.
“I’m so lucky this year,” Shu, wearing a sparkling silver dress, told reporters after receiving the best actress award.
“I couldn’t have made it through the two years of production for ‘The Assassin’ without (the help of) bandages and medicine,” quipped 39-year-old Shu, referring to the gruelling physical demands required for the action sequences.
Actor Shawn Yue, who has been romantically linked to Shu Qi, congratulated her on his Instagram account.
“The most beautiful ones usually appear only at the the end. So proud of u DEAR!!! (sic)” he said.
Chinese actress Zhou Yun grabbed best supporting actress for her performance in the film, which she said was a “surprise”.
“I won the award because the movie is so good, I contributed just a small part of all the impressive aspects (of the movie),” Zhou said.
The film is directed by Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien, who sticks to his trademark aesthetic that won him fame for previous titles Millennium Mambo and The Puppetmaster.
The 68-year-old, who did not attend the ceremony, is one of the most recognisable names in Taiwan’s New Wave cinema.
He has won a string of international awards, including best director at the Cannes Film Festival in May for The Assassin.
Though The Assassin dominated the night, others didn’t go home empty-handed.
South Korean star Lee Byung-hun won best actor for his role in political thriller The Inside Men.
“Today’s result is very good… I am very emotional about everybody’s support,” Lee told reporters.
Chinese romance film Mountains May Depart won the award for best screenplay, while India’s Bajirao Mastani, a love story about a general and a Muslim princess, won best visual effects.
Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping, who worked on films such as The Matrix, Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was given this year’s lifetime achievement award. Veteran Japanese actress Kirin Kiki was also given the prize.
French actress Sophie Marceau attended the ceremony to hand out the best actress award, to Shu’s delight.
“I’m very happy to be on the stage to hug Sophie,” best actress Shu said.
The awards were organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival and were hosted at Macau’s glitzy Venetian resort this year, the show’s 10th instalment.
LIST OF WINNERS
Best editing: Port of Call/Hong Kong
Best cinematography: The Assassin/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best supporting actress: Zhou Yun (The Assassin)/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best visual effects: Bajirao Mastani/India
Best sound: The Assassin/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best original music: The Assassin/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best screenplay: Mountains May Depart/France, Japan, China
Best supporting actor: Asano Tadanobu (Journey to the Shore)/France, Japan
Best costume design: The Throne/South Korea
Best production design: The Assassin/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best newcomer: Jessie Li (Port of Call)/Hong Kong
Best actress: Shu Qi (The Assassin)/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best actor: Lee Byung-hun (Inside Men)/South Korea
Best director: Hou Hsiao-hsien (The Assassin)/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Best film: The Assassin/Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
Lifetime achievement award: Kirin Kiki and Yuen Wo-ping
SINGAPORE – A mentally unsound mother who pushed her 7 year-old son off their flat in Tampines was sentenced to five years’ jail by the High Court this morning (March 18).
The woman, who cannot be named due to court gag order, was convicted of culpable…
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North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Friday, which flew about 800 km (500 miles) before hitting the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military said, as the isolated state stepped up its defiance of tough new UN and US sanctions.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missile was likely a medium-range Rodong-missile. If confirmed, it would mark North Korea’s first test of a medium range missile, capable of reaching Japan, since 2014.
The launch comes amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula after the North rejected UN Security Council sanctions imposed earlier in the month in response to a nuclear test conducted in January and the United States issued fresh sanctions this week.
The missile was launched from north of the capital, Pyongyang, flying across the peninsula and into the sea off the east coast early Friday morning, the South’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
It appeared the North may have fired a second missile soon after from the same region, with a projectile disappearing from radar at an altitude of about 17 km, it added.
South Korea did not confirm the type of the missiles. But 800 km was likely beyond the range of most short-range missiles in the North’s arsenal. The North’s Rodong missile has an estimated maximum range of 1,300 km, according to the South’s defence ministry.
A US official told Reuters in Washington that it appeared to be a medium-range missile fired from a road-mobile launcher.
The US State Department said in a statement it was closely monitoring the situation and urged North Korea to focus on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.
JAPAN CONCERNED
Japan quickly condemned the launch, lodging a protest with North Korea through its embassy in Beijing, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament.
“Japan strongly demands North Korea to exercise self-restraint and will take all necessary measures, such as warning and surveillance activity, to be able to respond to any situations,” Abe said.
Last week, the North fired two short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast and its leader Kim Jong Un ordered more nuclear weapons tests and missile tests to improve attack capability.
North Korea often fires missiles at periods of tension on the Korean peninsula or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programs.
New US sanctions on Pyongyang were issued on Wednesday aiming to expand its blockade by blacklisting individuals and entities that deal with the North’s economy.
The North has also reacted angrily to annual joint military drills by US and South Korean troops that began on March 7, calling the exercises “nuclear war moves” and threatening to wipe out its enemies.
South Korea and US officials began discussions this month on deploying the advanced anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to the US military in the South, despite Chinese and Russian objection.
Japan has previously said it was considering THAAD to beef up its defences.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 in defiance of existing UN Security Council resolutions.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s supreme court sentenced a visiting American student to 15 years of hard labour for crimes against the state, a punishment Washington condemned as politically motivated.
